


Forest Friend

by orphan_account



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Childhood Friends, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Gift Fic, Hotarubi no Mori e AU, Itaru is there for like 5 seconds, Kinda, Sakyo's the blob
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:21:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23702266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: “Don’t forget about me, okay? We’re going to get separated someday, but still, let’s stay together.” [dw20]
Relationships: Settsu Banri/Reader
Comments: 3
Kudos: 32





	Forest Friend

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kaientai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaientai/gifts), [heartbreakerr](https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartbreakerr/gifts).



You are six the first time you meet him.

You’re lost in a forest, a forest rumored to be a home for spirits, and you've been running around trying to find an exit for hours. Finally giving up, you slump down on the ground and cry, the sound of your sobs rivaling the crickets in the forest when you hear someone shout, “Hey, you! Why are you crying?”

You look up to see a young man standing next to a tree. He wears a kitsune mask over his face and you don’t even take the time to wonder why because you’re sprinting to him at full speed, overjoyed because someone’s here to _take you home_ —!

He moves to the side. You trip and fall face down on the ground, dried leaves and grass sticking to your hair and legs. You push yourself up to your feet with a grimace directed at him.

“Sorry,” he apologizes. “If a human touches me, I’ll disappear.”

“If a human…” You blink up at him with curiosity sparkling in your eyes, which is quickly overshadowed with glee and excitement. “Ooh, does that mean you’re a friendly spirit?! But... What do you mean by ‘disappear’?”

He brings up a hand to rub the back of his neck. "Er, yeah, I guess. I just.... live here."

It’s silent for a few moments before you lunge forward, trying to grab him but he dodges every time. He’s fast, and you don’t expect it when he grabs a stick to thwack you right on the head.

“Ow!” you whine, rubbing the spot on your head. “That hurt!”

“To disappear means to be obliterated,” he explains, looking up at the sky as he does so. “It's a... spell the mountain god placed on me. If a human touches me, it’s the end.”

You frown. “I’m sorry— eh?”

Your apology is cut short by him handing the stick to you, letting out a quiet sigh when you look at him in confusion. “You’re lost, right? Grab the other end of the stick. I’ll lead you out of the forest.”

It’s strange, but you find yourself liking him. With your hand on one end of the stick and his on the other, you walk with a bounce in your step. You don’t make conversation, and neither does he, so the walk is spent in a relaxed silence save for the sound of your shoes clicking against the stone tiles.

As you begin to approach a torii ( _the gate between the mundane and the sacred_ , as your uncle tells you) he speaks up once again, “You’re not afraid of me.”

You look up at him. “Of what?”

“... Nothing.”

It doesn’t take long before you’re both out of the forest, in front of another torii. He has since discarded the stick and he stands just a short distance away from you. “If you go straight, you’ll find the mountain path,” he says. “Goodbye.”

“Wait!” you exclaim. “Are you always going to be here? If I come back, will you still be here?”

“You shouldn't be here,” he replies. “This is the forest where the mountain god and the spirits live. You’ll get lost forever if you step foot in here.”

You don’t care about his warning. Instead, you tell him your name with a smile and ask for his, but he doesn’t reply. The breeze passing through the trees becomes stronger and stronger as he continues to look at you wordlessly.

With a huff, you turn around and are about to leave when you hear him say, “Banri.”

When you turn back, he's gone, but you walk back to your uncle's house giddily nonetheless. His reprimands do not affect you in the slightest; you're just happy to be home, and maybe, to have made a new friend as well.

* * *

You go back to the forest the next day.

The birds are chirping and the sun is warm against your skin, but nothing surprises you as much as Banri sitting at the steps beneath the shrine gate. His mask is still on but you know that it's the same spirit you met yesterday. 

“You came.”

“You waited for me!” you cheer, rushing towards him again with your arms open only to be hit on the head with a stick.

“You really don't learn, do you?”

You wince, a little bit in pain. “Sorry, I was just excited.”

Banri gets up to his feet. “It’s a bit hot. Should we go somewhere cooler? I’ll lead you out after, of course.”

You walk together with him from the stone steps to the red bridge across a clear stream until you reach the deeper parts of the forest. The sun shines through the trees but somehow the path beside you grows darker. The sound of a low growl is heard, and a dark blur passes by, morphing into the shape of a blob. It has only a pair of eyes and a mouth that is curved into an eerie grin.

“ _Banri,_ ” it speaks. “ _Is that a child? Can I eat it?_ ”

You scramble to hide behind Banri’s taller form, cowering in fear. He glances at you for a second before he turns back to the figure and shakes his head. “No. She’s a friend.”

“ _Is that so?_ ” it continues. “ _Human child, please don’t touch his skin. If you do, I’ll eat you!_ ”

It disappears and slithers away into the shadows. Although you quiver at the threat, seeing Banri standing next to you so coolly makes you feel like there is nothing to be afraid of at all.

“Don’t worry about Sakyo,” Banri assures you. “He’s another one of the spirits. He transforms to scare people, but he’s all bark and no bite.”

Your eyes widen before you throw your arms up in the air, an excited cheer leaving your lips. “This is the first time I met a spirit! That’s super cool!”

He huffs out a laugh. “What did you think I was?”

“You look like a human, not a blob of goo.”

You begin to walk again. As you fall into step with him, you find yourself looking at his mask curiously. “Hey, Banri? Are you like the ghost from Spirited Away? Why do you wear a mask?”

“No reason,” he says. “Never mind me. Tell me about yourself.”

You can’t stop the smile that makes its way to your lips. “Are you curious?”

“That’s why I waited for you.”

* * *

You go back to the forest the following days after that. It’s nice, having someone like Banri to keep you company in the large forest. Sometimes he takes you to a lily pond and sits on the side with you, listening to you talk animatedly about your friends from school. Sometimes he teaches you how to make flower crowns and sometimes he teaches you how to make a fish out of a palm leaf. You enjoy being with Banri and you’re growing fonder of him.

Today you’re in a flower meadow. You’re gathering a bunch of flowers to bring home, the bundle growing bigger and bigger in your arms. When you decide you’ve picked enough, you turn around to see that Banri is laying on the grass, completely relaxed and seemingly asleep.

You crawl closer to him, kneeling above his head as you gingerly remove the mask from his face. You decide that he looks like a prince, but before you could admire him any further, his eyes open, making you let out a yelp of surprise.

“I’m sorry!” you squeak and push the mask back on his face a little too roughly.

He grumbles, getting up into a sitting position as he puts the mask back on properly.

“Attacking someone while they’re asleep… you’re a scary little lady,” he says with a hint of amusement in his tone.

You pout. “You were pretending to be asleep, weren’t you?”

“I look normal, right?” he asks you, resting his face on the palm of his hand.

“Why are you wearing that mask?”

“If I don’t wear this mask, I won’t look like a spirit.”

You stare at him, completely baffled before you break into a fit of giggles. “You’re so weird, Banri.”

Although silences aren’t strange with Banri, this one feels uncomfortable for you. As you walk down the stone steps with him, you find yourself feeling sad, and he seems to sense your dampening mood as well. 

“Banri.”

“Hm?”

“I won’t be able to come here tomorrow,” you tell him. “I only come here for the summer and I have to go home tomorrow.” 

He doesn’t respond. You sigh and look down at your feet, about to wonder if he’ll miss your company at all when he stops in his tracks and turns to face you. “Will you be able to come back again next year?”

You nod happily. “Yeah!”

* * *

Summer has become your favorite season. As promised, Banri is there when you go find him at the entrance of the forest. You’re walking down the lush forest together when a large hand grows out of a tree and holds Banri’s form in its grasp, but he doesn’t seem to be afraid at all.

“ _Banri,_ ” it warns him, its voice hoarse and gravelly. “ _That’s a human child. It’s dangerous. If she touches you, you’ll disappear._ ”

“Thank you. I’m fine,” he insists, and the hand retracts back to the tree but not before asking you not to touch Banri.

You continue to walk. Multiple paper umbrellas appear between the trees and they whisper to you.

 _Don’t touch him, little human,_ they say. _Be careful_. 

* * *

Today you’re playing hide and seek with him.

You’re sitting on a tree branch, muffling your giggles as he calls out your name, trying to locate you. 

“Boo!” you shout, making him jump in surprise.

“Why are you up there?”

“I wanted to surprise you.” You don’t hear the branch beginning to crack. “At least when I’m around, can you take off your mask every once in a while?”

“That’s fine, but why?” he asks, removing the mask from his face. You’re about to respond but the branch _breaks_ , sending you falling as frantic yells escape your lips. Banri seems panicked and he has his arms out like he’s ready to catch you, but he stops when you fall into a bush upside down.

Slowly, you crawl out from the bush and sit down, not wanting to feel even dizzier from the fall. Once vertigo subsides, you call out his name and he crouches down to your level.

“No matter what, don’t ever touch me, okay?” you ask him, bursting into tears as he watches you in silence. Through choked out sobs, you beg him, “Please. No matter what, okay?”

(Banri feels his heart clench at the sight of you crying and the fact that he can’t hold you in a comforting hug, no matter how much he wants to.)

* * *

You visit him again next summer.

You’ve entered fifth grade and you can’t wait to tell Banri about it. In your school uniform, you dash out of the house and to the shrine gate, the same place you always meet him. He’s sitting on the steps with his mask on as always and watches as you twirl, showing off your uniform happily. 

“Somehow, you’re starting to look like a woman,” he comments.

“I _am_ a woman,” you grumble, slightly offended.

“Shall we go?”

You’ve brought a kite with you that you play with once you’re at the meadow. He lifts the item above his head as you’re standing a good distance away from him, holding the kite’s string and spool in your hands.

“Do I hold it like this?”

“Yep!” You beam. “And when I run, just let go, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Here I go!” you exclaim, turning around to run. Banri lets go of the kite and watches as you excitedly run around with the kite following you overhead. He seems curious about the item, so you hand the spool over to him. He also seems to be having fun with it, which brings a smile to your face.

Briefly, you realize that although your age is getting closer to his, he seems to be the same as the day you met. That someday, you’re going to be older than him, and the thought makes you frown. Not wanting to ruin the cheery atmosphere, you push the thought away as an unnecessary worry.

* * *

You’re sitting at the front porch with your uncle as he munches on his watermelon slice next to you. It’s not as hot as the other days which could only mean that spring is approaching, and after spring, it would be winter. Your uncle comments how the winter would be freezing in the mountain, that it’d be so cold that the mountain god would freeze. 

On the day before you take the train home, you visit Banri at the torii once more, this time with a scarf. 

“Please wear it in the winter, okay?” 

“Okay.”

“See you next year!”

You wave goodbye and he waves back until you disappear out of sight.

* * *

It’s a cold winter morning. 

You saunter down the sidewalk, lost in thought and completely oblivious to the boy who calls your name. You only notice Itaru’s presence the second time he repeats it. 

“Oh! Good morning,” you greet.

“Good morning,” he greets back. His hands are shoved into the pockets of his coat. “There, near your feet. It’s frozen.”

You stop in your tracks to find that the ground is indeed frozen and that you’d have to be careful about it. 

“You’ll slip. It’s dangerous. Here,” Itaru says as he offers his hand out to you with a faint blush on his cheeks. The way he holds your hand is a little bit awkward, but then again, you’ve never seen Itaru talk to anyone for more than five sentences. “You’ve been a little out of it lately. Everything okay?”

His voice fades away as you get lost in your thoughts once again. You wonder if Banri feels cold in the forest up in the mountains, where the snowfall seems to be heavier and the winters colder. You hope he’s been wearing the scarf you gave him before you left. You don’t know if spirits get sick, but even if they don’t, the thought of Banri not dressing up properly for winter still worries you a bit.

You want to see him again, and this time, you long to touch him, too.

* * *

You’re in your first year of high school the next summer you visit Banri. Your uniform is new and he comments on it, saying that you’re catching up with him too quickly. As you sit together by the lily pond, watching the lily pads float above the calm ripples of the water, Banri lets out a sigh.

“You’re growing really fast, huh,” he says. “You’re taller. And you don’t tackle me anymore.”

“You hit me in the head with a stick every time I try to do that,” you retort. “Don’t you think I’d learn my lesson?”

He huffs in reply.

“I plan on finding a job here after I graduate,” you speak up after a short moment of silence. “So I can be with you more. Through every season.”

_(Banri is grateful that he has his mask on because he’s not sure how he’d react if you saw the blush coating his cheeks.)_

He clears his throat. “Let me tell you about myself.”

You blink at him, quite surprised, but he seems calm about everything. 

“I’m not a spirit, but I’m not a human either,” he explains. “I think I _used to_ be human. I was abandoned in this forest when I was a baby. The spirits found me and the mountain god appeared and cast a spell on me that allowed me to continue living. I’m like a ghost.”

He takes in a deep breath and continues, “it’s okay if you forget about me. A body maintained by magic is very weak. One touch from a human body, the spell will break and the body will disappear. It’s really a fragile thing.”

“It’s like snow, isn’t it?” you pipe up, catching him by surprise. “Banri, I thought of you during winter. In spring and autumn. Don’t forget about me, okay? We’re going to get separated someday, but still, let’s stay together.”

* * *

“Spirit festival?”

“No, a summer festival held by spirits. I didn’t invite you when you were little because I thought you’d be scared.”

“I wouldn’t be scared!”

“Sure. But tonight, can you sneak out of your house? I want to go with you. Always have.”

“A festival full of spirits sounds kinda unnerving, though,” you reply. “And it’s at night, too.”

He lifts up his mask enough to reveal his face. He turns to you with a gentle smile. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll protect you.”

* * *

Nighttime comes and the festival begins. Colorful lanterns illuminate the mountains and the streets are full of spirits disguised as people in yukata and masks, all of them eager to participate in the festival activities. The scent of street food drifts past your nose and the sound of excited chatter surrounds you. 

“Are they all disguised as humans?” you ask him, looking at the crowd of children surrounding a tub full of goldfish, trying to scoop them up in exchange for a prize. 

“Yeah. Impressive, right?” Banri responds. “I heard that humans join in sometimes, too.”

You hum in acknowledgment. You walk a few steps ahead of him, wanting to check out the takoyaki stand when Banri calls your name. You turn around to see him holding a piece of white fabric. He ties one end around his wrist and lets you tie the other around yours while explaining to you that it’s just so that you wouldn’t get lost.

“Feels like a date,” you comment cheerily.

“It _is_ a date. Let’s go.”

Neither of you cares about the odd looks the passers-by give you at all. You’re both too distracted by each other’s presence to notice. Together, you watch the fireworks explode in the sky, the colors spreading across the darkness in a beautiful array of vibrance. You go together to watch a performance and you explore the festival together, admiring the art pieces on display. 

Time goes by when you’re having fun. The festival ended, but your joy hasn’t, and it is evident by the way you’re chattering about it with him so excitedly. “That was so cool! Is it like this every year?”

“Yeah, every summer.” He sighs. “Listen, I can’t wait for the next summers to come around anymore. Even when I’m away from you, I want to see you.”

He takes off his mask and gently places it on your face before leaning down to press a kiss against its surface. You peek at him through the holes of the mask and see him smile down at you, which makes heat bloom across your cheeks. And even though he can’t see it, you end up smiling back.

“Keep the mask,” he says.

The two of you walk in silence when you hear a couple of kids squealing and chattering. A young boy, no older than the age of eight, trips on his feet next to Banri, but he doesn’t fall because Banri swiftly grabs the boy’s arm. Too worried about the little child to realize what Banri just did, you crouch down and ask the child if he’s okay. The child says yes and runs off with his friend. You turn to face him, about to comment on the child’s cuteness when you realize that something is _wrong_.

There’s a luminescent green light gleaming at the tips of his fingers. You realize shortly that the child is a human, and that Banri grabbed his arm, which means… 

Shards of green light fly up in the air as the glow spreads up his arm, and although his eyes are sad, he still doesn’t hesitate to smile at you.

“Come here!” His arms are outstretched for an embrace. “I can finally touch you.”

You ignore the tingling sensation in your nose, the tears building up in the corners of your eyes as you take off your mask and run into his arms, a joyful laugh slipping past your lips. You barely get to register his warmth however, for his entire body begins to disintegrate, leaving you holding nothing but the yukata he wore. You crumple to the ground and cry into the fabric, sobbing out the three words you never got to say to him.

You are sixteen when you lose him.

You don’t look forward to the summer for a long time, but the memories remain with you, and the mask stays on your dresser as each summer comes and goes.


End file.
